


The Mother of Invention

by molly2012



Category: Rizzoli & Isles
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-27
Updated: 2013-08-15
Packaged: 2017-12-21 13:01:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/900613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/molly2012/pseuds/molly2012
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Necessity is supposed to be the mother of invention. So when the usual bow and arrow doesn't work on Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles, Cupid has to come up with something a little more....unusual. Will an insect bite, an outspoken mother and a red dress work where everything else has failed?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first Rizzoli & Isles fanfic, so any constructive criticism / comments welcome! There's no episode tags, but - since Angela is not yet living in the guesthouse - it's set during season 1 sometime and will be a multi-chapter fic.

'Ooh, God, that's driving me mad'.

Angela stopped in the hallway, her brow wrinkling as she heard her daughter's voice coming from behind the kitchen door. The craziness that was the weekly Rizzoli family Sunday lunch had not yet begun in earnest, and she had just been taking the chance to freshen herself up a little before she started cooking. Her husband and Frankie were in the garden, and she had thought Jane would be out there with them, but....well, it looked as if Jane was in the kitchen. She shrugged to herself, and was about to push open the door and bribe her into helping to prepare the food, when another voice stopped her.

'Would you like me to.....?'

Maura.

Angela paused, and smiled. Maura Isles had become a regular fixture at these little family gatherings - in fact, she was becoming like a member of the family. And none of the Rizzolis would have had it any other way. She and Jane were good for each other. They were good together. And, although she was fairly sure that theirs was a close friendship and nothing more, Angela far preferred Maura to some of the guys that Jane had brought home in the past.

Now, the two of them had obviously left the menfolk to whatever they were doing and retreated inside for a while....so much the better. When it came to chopping vegetables, Angela reasoned that six hands were most definitely better than two.

'Yeah....ooh, right there. No, up a bit...God, Maura, would you just stop teasing?'

Angela's eyes widened, her hand resting on the door handle and her imagination going into overdrive. What were they doing in there?

Maybe she didn't want to know.

'Me? Teasing?'

A soft grunt, then Maura's voice again, slow and sexy and slightly amused.

'There'.

Was that a rustle of clothes?

'Ahh. Yeah, there. Right there'.

A low, satisfied sigh reached her ears, and Angela almost let out a squeak of nervous laughter. The last time she had heard a sound like that was.......well. Best not to dwell on that. But it was definitely coming from Jane, and it made her wonder whether maybe, just maybe, she had been wrong about the 'close friends' thing.

Ah, hell. She needed to go in there because she needed to make the lunch. After all, that's what kitchens were designed for. Cooking. Not whatever they were doing. That, they could take upstairs. Telling herself that she really was a liberal minded mother who wouldn't care at all, she took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

'Oh my God'.

'Christ, Ma, don't do that!'

Angela pulled up short as soon as she walked through the door, the exclamation out of her mouth before she could stop it. By the way Jane was theatrically clutching a hand to her chest - and by the language she had used, which normally she would have been berated for - she guessed that she had made her daughter jump out of her skin, but right at that moment, she couldn't find much sympathy for her.

Jane and Maura were standing by the kitchen counter -  standing so close that Maura's front was almost brushing against Jane's back. But Angela noticed that Maura, who normally was the first one to get flustered in an awkward situation, looked completely unfazed as she greeted her, even though she was pulling her hand back from Jane's top.

'Hi, Angela'.

Or, to be more precise, from under Jane's top.

'Uh, Ma? You ok?'

Jane was looking at her, smiling now that she had recovered from her shock, a quizzical look on her face...... _hell, no I'm not ok. I've just walked in on my daughter and her best friend starting to_.......don't go there. And how in God's name did they not even look embarrassed?

'Yeah, fine.....no, not fine'.

Jane raised her eyebrows, and Maura looked concerned.

'Did I just....uh....interrupt....?'

For a brief moment, they both looked totally confused, but it was Jane who cottoned on first and a look of pure horror spread across her face.

'What? No! No, no, no. How could you even think that.....?'

Uh-oh.

Had she just gone right in there with both feet?

'I mean....come on! It's Maura!'

Even as a growing sense of hot embarrassment began to steal over Angela, her daughter's furious denials made her feel like she should at least try and defend herself.

'Well, can you blame me?' She gestured indignantly to Maura's hand, the one that had recently emerged from under Jane's t-shirt. 'Anyway, there's no need to be so defensive, Maura's a beautiful girl. And your track record with men isn't so good, Janie, you know, I thought that maybe you'd decided to expand your horizons a little'.

Jane's mouth almost dropped open.

'I....what?'

'Besides'. Angela was beginning to get into her stride. 'If I was Maura, I think I would be pretty offended if my best friend had just reacted in that way to the idea of...well, you know. Even if she's not your type, it's very rude to say so'.

Jane threw up her hands in a gesture of defeat, and looked helplessly over at Maura, her pleading expression saying it all. _Help me out here_.  But the honey blonde's worried look had cleared to leave a smile that looked like it might turn into laughter at any moment, and Angela felt a small sigh of relief escape her. Maura was often so serious, but this time it looked as though she was seeing the funny side.

'Oh, no, I'm not offended'.

'Great, that's alright then'.

Both Maura and Angela ignored Jane's sarcastic comment.

'But Jane just had a pruritus around the dorsal surface of the scapula, and I was helping her relieve the discomfort. It wasn't anything else'.

Angela blinked, and Jane now turned to Maura with a look that said she thought her friend had gone crazy.

'No, I had an itch that I couldn't get to, and you scratched it for me'.

Maura nodded, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

'Umm-hmm, that's what I said'.

'No, you said something about a putus and a scalpel. I don't want a scalpel anywhere near my back'.

'Scapula, Jane, not a scalpel, and it's your shoulder blade. Technically the area in between your shoulder blades'.

'Yeah, and do you know how annoying it is when you have a tiny critter bite there that you can't reach?' Jane wriggled her shoulders, as if the thought of it was making her itch all over again.

'Tabanidae, Jane. Horse flies. Blood sucking creatures that aren't really tiny at all. That's what bit you'.

The wriggling abruptly stopped as Jane's eyes widened.

'Great, so now you're telling me that a big thing's bitten my back and sucked the blood out? And please, Maura, sometimes it is ok to use plain English'.

Maura opened her mouth to retaliate, but Angela interrupted, holding up her hands and heading towards the fridge.

'Enough already! Either take this outside or give me a hand in here. Janie?'

Tempting as it was to let them argue on in her kitchen, she really needed to get going now, and she didn't want to draw attention back to the humiliating mistake she had just made. Trying to make herself feel slightly better as she grabbed bell peppers and onions, she told herself that anyone else would surely have come to the same conclusion. They were just lucky that it had been her that had walked in and not Frankie.

Jane rolled her eyes.

'Outside', she muttered. 'Away from this madness'.

Angela called after her rapidly retreating back.

'Then tell your father that he can get up off his backside and do something useful out there - he's been promising me to fix that old wooden deckchair'.

'So'.

Angela turned to see Maura smiling at her and drying her hands on a tea towel.

'Maura, I'm....'

'Don't worry about it'. Maura looked like she was trying not to laugh again, and Angela supposed that it was better than the alternative. She smiled back gratefully as Maura picked up a small knife and looked at her expectantly.

'What needs doing first?'

 

* * *

 

The following day, Jane couldn't concentrate. She was supposed to be finalising her report from the case they had just closed, and filling in the myriad of forms that all essentially said the same thing in slightly different ways - that they had arrested the guy and charged him with first-degree murder. She was supposed to be going over a different case that was due in court the following week, and looking online for a birthday present for Frankie, and double checking her credit card statement because she had no idea how, exactly, she had managed to spend five hundred dollars on it since last month, even with the car repair and the vet's bill for Jo Friday. In short, she had a hundred and one things that she was supposed to be doing. 

Thinking about Maura was not one of them.

She sighed, and threw down her pen. Maura. Her mother. Her mother. Maura. The mistake her mother had made the previous day about her and Maura. Why her mother would have made such a mistake about her and Maura. And having gone over and over and over it, Jane had come to the conclusion that there could only be two possible explanations. One, her mother had finally gone mad. Or two, she had seen something between Jane and Maura that went beyond friendship.

When it came to asking which one of those explanations was more likely.....well,  that was a question that she found she couldn't answer. It was always possible - no, make that probable - that it was the first, and that her mother had lost the plot. But, the more she thought about it, the more she found herself guiltily, shamefully, hoping that it was the second.

Dammit.

It was as if her mother's comments had acted as some sort of trigger, and sparked some kind of reaction in her that she couldn't stop. Logically, her mother was right. Maura was beautiful. And Jane's track record with men wasn't just 'not so good'. It was crap. Hell, she had even told Maura once - admittedly when they were both drunk - that if she had been attracted to women, she would definitely be attracted to Maura. And Maura, unused to the effects of vodka cranberry, had returned the compliment. But it was only now that Jane was beginning to think seriously about it.

Maybe her mother had been wrong about one thing. If she had a 'type', then, despite the Google mouth, Maura would pretty much be it.

She didn't understand why she couldn't just laugh it off like Maura had done. It was doubtful that the other woman had been tossing and turning all night, worrying one minute about Angela's sanity and the next about whether she found her friend attractive or not, all of it accompanied by a slight throbbing sensation in between her legs as she wondered, in between the worrying, what it might have been like to have Maura's hands on her breasts instead of on her back, and.......

Oh, crap.

Jane didn't realise that she had groaned out loud as she rested her elbows on her desk and put her forehead in her hands, and Korsak's concerned question took her momentarily by surprise.

'You ok?'

_Sure. I'm fine. Just peachy. Realising I have sexual feelings towards my best friend has really made my day, thanks for asking_.

'Uh....yeah, fine. Sorry'.

She saw the glance that Korsak exchanged with Frost, and understood that they were not going to let her get away with it that easily. So she came out with the only excuse that her fuddled, sleep-deprived brain could think of.

'Frankie's birthday'.

'Ah, you stuck for a present?'

She didn't even have to nod before Frost's face lit up.

'I got just the thing'.

Jane blinked, and raised her eyebrows as she saw Frost talking to Korsak, not her.

'See, the Red Sox have just launched this new merchandise range, Wally the Green Monster sweats and everything, it's.....'

Korsak was nodding. He was looking interested. When she peered round to look at his computer screen, she saw that he was typing 'Red Sox shop' into Google.

Enough.

'No'. She pushed back her chair and stood up.

'Where are you going?'

That was a good question. Where was she going?

'Down to the lab'.

Nice one.

She thought again.

'The cafe'.

It was Korsak's turn to raise his eyebrows, and Jane shrugged.

'Anywhere to avoid looking at grown men going mad over Wally sweats'.

'Come on, he'll love it'. Frost looked absolutely convinced. 'Leave us your credit card and we'll get it sorted. They gift-wrap, you won't even have to see it....'.

'No. Definitely not. And I am out of here'.

'If you don't like Wally, Maura might have some ideas!' Korsak called after her.

Actually, he did have a point. Maura loved shopping, and she always knew exactly what to get. And since Frankie's birthday was on Wednesday, Jane needed a plan pretty damn quick if she didn't want to end up with green monster clothing.

She swore to herself as she found her finger hitting the elevator button that would take her down to the lab.

_Get a serious, cast-iron grip, Rizzoli_.

She wondered if her little brother would ever know exactly how much he owed her for this.

 

* * *

 

Maura Isles had barely slept a wink.

Sitting at her desk, her computer screen doing its best to entice her with Charlotte Olympia heels at thirty percent discount, she took another sip of coffee and tried to focus. She should have been signing off on autopsy reports. She should have been catching up on some journal reading, or booking her next series of yoga classes. She shouldn't really have been looking at the shoes, but it was a last-ditch attempt to get her mind back where she wanted it, since, for the past twenty two hours - or twenty hours and forty minutes, if you factored in the little time that she had actually spent asleep - it had been firmly fixed on Jane Rizzoli. And it was beginning to wear Maura out.

For some reason, Angela's faux pas the day before had stuck with Maura. It had made her think, and wonder, and question things that she wasn't sure she had any business questioning. Jane was her best friend, the first one that she had ever had. But, even considering her lack of experience in the field of female friendship, she was fairly sure that many of her thoughts and questions would be considered by most people to be inappropriate.

For example, it made sense to assume that Angela's mistake had not come out of nowhere. Maura reasoned that if she had come across Korsak with his hand on Jane's back, she would not have jumped to that conclusion, and so there must be something in the way that she and Jane were with each other that had made Angela think that they were....well. More than friends. That in itself wasn't so bad.

The inappropriate part came when Maura started wishing that Angela had been right.

She had laughed it off at the time. But, if she was honest with herself - and she couldn't very well be anything else - she would have admitted that she was attracted to Jane, and had been for some time. She hadn't immediately recognised it for what it was but, once she had (after reading a brilliant journal article on the subject of attraction and the role of monoamines in chimpanzees), she had pushed it very firmly away and into the compartment in her brain labeled 'Do Not Open - Danger of Mortal Embarrassment'. And Jane's reaction the previous day had convinced her that that was where it belonged. Unfortunately, getting it back in there now was proving very difficult.

The only good thing was that they had no cases on. Nothing had come in over the weekend, and there had been no calls that morning. So it was very unlikely that she would see Jane before lunch, which gave her approximately two hours and twenty minutes to get her act together.

She could do that.

If she could stop thinking about the feel of Jane's back under her fingers.

'Hi'.

The voice from the doorway made her start, and she tried not to let her surprise show too much.

It looked like her two hours and twenty minutes had just been cut to ten seconds.

'Hi yourself'. She had to work hard to keep her voice normal as Jane came round her desk to stand by her chair, and peered over her shoulder at the computer screen. 'What brings you down here?'

'Need your help with something......do people actually walk in those?'

Maura's eyes followed Jane's finger, which was pointing at a pair of sky-blue, six-inch stiletto heels with a rather cute flower stitched onto the upper leather.

'Of course'. Despite Jane's proximity, Maura found her brain was starting to work once more. 'Studies have shown that the ability to walk in heels is determined by....''

'Wait'. Jane held up a hand to silence her. 'You mean someone has actually been paid to watch women cripple themselves and call it a research study?'

Honestly. She could be so melodramatic sometimes.

'You wouldn't cripple yourself, Jane', Maura began patiently. 'It's all about the balance between....' She broke off as she looked up and saw Jane's expression. 'Never mind. What did you need my help for?'

The dark haired woman grimaced, and walked around to slump into Maura's  other office chair.

'Frankie's birthday. Wednesday'.

'You don't know what to buy?'

'I have no idea what to buy'.

'Okay, well.....' Maura paused. She was finding it hard to concentrate again now that Jane was directly in her line of sight, but brightened up as she was struck with what she considered to be a genius idea. Maybe her brain was functioning after all.

'I know. The Red Sox have just....'

'No'.

'But you don't even know what I was going to say'.

Jane raised her eyebrows.

'Wally?'

Maura nodded. It was perfect.

'No. Korsak and Frost already tried that one. I am the biggest Red Sox fan I know, and even I wouldn't wear Wally. Next?'

Maura sighed. She didn't actually have any more ideas. Not right now, anyway.

There was only one thing for it.

'I'll come down to the department store with you at lunchtime, we might see something there'.

'Ahh, no'. Jane moaned. 'You know I hate those places'.

Maura pushed the last of her inappropriate thoughts away and concentrated on the task in hand. This was, after all, about Jane's little brother.

'Tough'.

Jane looked astonished, and Maura shrugged.

'If it's for Frankie....?'

Jane sighed.

'Ok. But only since you're coming with me'. She stood up. 'Meet you at the entrance?'

'Sure'.

As soon as she was sure Jane had left, Maura blew out a heavy sigh and leaned back in her chair. She couldn't believe she had just done that.

After essentially spending the past twenty-four hours in a state of sexual frustration, she was - voluntarily - going to spend her lunchtime going shopping with the object of her fantasies.

Great.

She wondered if Frankie would ever know just how much he owed her for this.

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the response to this! Hope you continue to enjoy.

Jane stood in the men's section of the department store, gazing helplessly at the racks of accessories. Socks, hats, bags. Ties...she couldn't remember the last time she had seen Frankie wearing one of those. Ditto on the cufflinks. Wallets. Belts. And that was even before she had got to the fancy shaving gear.

She had no idea even where to begin.

Cursing herself for being stupid enough to be talked into this in the first place, she half-heartedly flicked through some garish patterned socks before sighing and looking around. Still no sign of Maura. She had disappeared about twenty minutes ago, and had not yet surfaced. Jane just hoped that when she did return, she would have found something and they could get the hell out of here. Shopping was frustrating enough at the best of times, but after the past twenty-four hours, shopping with Maura was like walking on egg shells that no one else could see.

In the couple of hours in between making this arrangement and actually meeting the doctor at the entrance to the precinct, Jane had decided that, whatever was going on in her mind with regards to her friend, she would have to swallow it. Nothing more than friendship would ever be reciprocated - Maura's amusement the day before had made that glaringly obvious - and besides, Jane wasn't entirely convinced that she had got her own feelings right on this one. She had never felt any attraction towards women before Maura, and she doubted whether she would again. Better to just do what Maura had done. Laugh it off and then forget it.

When she saw the other woman walking down the precinct steps towards her, she realised that it would not be so easy.

How was it that she had never properly noticed before what a great figure Maura had? Small, slim, curvy in all the right places...And why had she always teased Maura about looking like she was about to strut down a catwalk, when that green dress looked so fantastic on her? It made Jane suddenly conscious of her own lanky body, straight up and down like the tomboy that she was, and the comfortable blazer that hid it all so well. No wonder Maura had laughed. She was a stunning woman who could have anyone she wanted, and it was hardly surprising that she did not want Jane Rizzoli.

But even that thought did not help to cancel out the one that had come before it.

She had almost been glad when Maura had said something about having a quick look in the women's clothing section. It had given her a few minutes to give herself a mental rap over the knuckles and pull the pieces of her mind back together. But now she was getting bored and pissed off. She would have to be back at the precinct soon, and she was still no nearer to getting anything for her brother.

Maybe Wally hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

'What do you think? Isn't it perfect?'

Jane spun around at the familiar, excited voice.

'Finally! I was about to...' She broke off, and blinked as she saw what Maura was holding. 'Maur, Frankie doesn't cross-dress'. A splutter of laughter escaped her at the thought. 'And anyway, red's not really his colour'.

'No, silly, for you'. Maura thrust the dress at Jane. 'Go on, try it on. That colour will look fantastic and it's the last one they've got in your size'.

_No way_. She took the dress gingerly, and looked at the price tag.

_Not a snowball's chance in hell_.

'We're supposed to be shopping for Frankie, Maura. And anyway, I don't wear dresses. I don't need one, and I definitely cannot afford one'.

'You can never have too many dresses'.

'I don't even have one. At least...' Jane screwed up her face as she tried to picture the contents of her closet. 'Not one that still fits'.

Maura's mouth dropped open.

'You must do'.

Jane shook her head, and held the dress out for Maura to take while she gestured to the socks behind her.

'Back to Frankie. One of these to start with?'

Incredulity was replaced by horror.

'No'. Maura shook her head firmly. 'No, no, no'.

'Then what?'

'Well...' Maura paused, and a sly smile crossed her face. 'You try the dress on, and I am sure that I'll be able to find something for Frankie. Yes?'

Jane couldn't believe it.

'No!'

Maura raised her eyebrows, and Jane huffed as she tried to ignore the look her friend was giving her. Damn it. Maura knew that she could never say no to that look.

This was bribery, pure and simple.

'Why do you want me to try it on anyway? It'll look ridiculous, and I can't afford it'.

It was a last-ditch attempt to avoid the hell that was the women's changing rooms, but Maura just shook her head.

'It's half price and it'll look great. Trust me. I'm doing you a favour. And every girl needs at least one dress'.

'Yeah, except me'.

'Go'.

There was no arguing with that tone. Jane finally gave in and stalked off, muttering under her breath. Since when had Maura morphed into her mother? She couldn't even hide sneakily, since the changing area was right opposite, and she could feel Maura's eyes on her back the entire way.

But still. If it meant she didn't have to wander the store looking at overpriced aftershave, she would do it.

If it made Maura happy, she would do it.

* * *

Maura wasn't entirely sure what had come over her.

After Jane had left her office earlier, she had spent the rest of the morning distracting herself in a flurry of activity, all of it designed to keep her mind from wandering to places where she was convinced it should not be going. By the time lunch came around, she had just about succeeded in pushing down ideas of what it might be like to have Jane as a lover, and was settled once again on Jane as a friend. Her best friend.

All of that went to hell when she saw Jane already waiting for her on the precinct steps.

She did her best to act normally, and she thought that she hadn't done so badly. Only once did Jane ask if she was alright - You feeling ok? You look a bit strange - and Maura had nodded quickly, telling herself that if Jane was asking after her physical wellbeing then it wasn't really a lie. She was just omitting some of the truth. Jane didn't need to know that her brain had turned to mush.

And Jane definitely didn't need to know the kinds of thoughts that the mush seemed to be capable of producing, or the effect those thoughts were having on Maura.

When she had left Jane by the men's accessories, it had been with the intention of just having a very quick look at the women's clothes while she gave herself a sharp talking-to. But browsing shirts and tops did not help matters, since all she could think of was the body that she knew was under the baggy jackets and dark trousers, and how great it would look in one of those sleeveless silk blouses, that pair of skin tight grey jeans instead. And when she saw the red dress, any good, sensible intentions that she had left went straight out of the window along with most of her common sense.

She had never seen Jane in a dress. And, despite knowing what it would do to her, she really, really wanted to.

Bribery was the only option.

Watching Jane stomp towards the changing rooms, Maura couldn't help but smile. She guessed that Jane would go in, wait for five minutes and then come out again without even taking the dress from its hanger. And she knew that Jane genuinely believed that it would look wrong on her. That she would look wrong in it. For someone who had such a raw, athletic sexiness, Jane Rizzoli had zero body confidence, and that had always amazed Maura. It maybe wasn't the best timing, but she suddenly wanted to show Jane how she, Maura, saw her. How gorgeous she actually was.

And after a couple of minutes of useless debate - _this is only going to make you feel worse_ alternating with _this is what best friends do_ \- she headed across the shop floor after Jane. She would sort Frankie out later.

It was not hard to figure out which of the two occupied changing cubicles Jane was in. One had a heap of clothes thrown over the top of the door, and huffing and puffing sounds coming from behind it as the occupant struggled into yet another outfit. Usually, Maura hated to make assumptions - but she thought that, this time, it was pretty safe to assume that was not Jane. And besides, she could see that the other door had not been locked. She was fairly sure that, when she pushed it open, she would find Jane leaning against the wall with the dress hanging untouched, looking at her watch until she thought that she could reasonably leave and get away with it.

'Hey! Occupied - Jesus, Maura, you scared the crap out of me'.

Maura smirked as she took in Jane's guilty look, and the way that she started fiddling with the sleeves of her blazer as if she had just put it back on.

'No good'. She didn't meet Maura's eye. 'You found anything for Frankie yet? 'Cause I've got to be back soon'.

Maura looked pointedly at the dress.

'Told you, no...oh, God, you're giving me that look again'. Jane sighed. 'Maura, it's not my thing'.

This time, Maura knew exactly what came over her. Insanity. Madness. Hopefully temporary, but certainly forceful enough that she went along with it. Telling herself that she would deal with the consequences of such ill-advised spontaneity later, she shut the cubicle door behind her and folded her arms.

'Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?'

Jane's eyes widened.

'Maura, you're not really going to...'

_Make you change into that dress in front of me? Yes, I think I am_.

Jane didn't move, and Maura sighed.

'The hard way, then'.

* * *

'Look, could you turn around, please?'

Maura was still standing in the corner of the changing room, arms crossed in front of her and with a stern look on her face, and Jane didn't dare argue. But trying to get her shirt and pants off in the small space - made even smaller by the presence of another person - was hard enough. Trying to do it without giving Maura an eyeful was verging on the impossible. And Jane suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious.

She remembered all the times in the past when she had breezily undressed in front of Maura and hadn't even given it a second thought. All the evenings after work when she had changed in Maura's office, or at her home before they went out, the mornings when Maura had seen her crawl out of bed in just a tank top and panties, or wander around her apartment in a towel after taking a shower. But this time wasn't like any of those others. And right now, the last thing that Jane wanted was those hazel eyes on her while she stripped.

Maura raised her eyebrows.

'It's never bothered you before'.

'Yeah, well. It does now'.

Maura looked as if she was going to argue, and then shrugged, turning to face the wall.

'Okay'.

As she hurriedly pulled her pants off and stepped into the dress, Jane wondered if she had imagined the hint of something that she had seen in Maura's eyes, just before the other woman had turned away. There had been amusement. Frustration. And a tiny spark of...disappointment?

No way.

She hadn't had enough sleep, that was all. She must be seeing things.

'Ok, you can turn around...' She broke off as she reached behind her, struggling to pull the zipper the whole way up. Concentrating on not damaging the dress as she tugged, she didn't notice the breath catch in Maura's throat, or the slight darkening of her eyes. In fact, the first hint she got was when Maura reached out and slowly, smoothly, pulled the zipper the rest of the way up before resting her hands on Jane's shoulders and turning her around to face the full-length mirror. Jane froze at the touch, and she had to swallow hard to keep her composure as Maura gently squeezed the top of her arm and spoke softly in her ear.

'See? Told you'.

She had been right. As always. Even Jane had to admit that it looked pretty darn good. But when she looked in the mirror, she wasn't really seeing the detail of the dress - the way the silky material hugged her slender frame, the perfect fit of the wrap waist, and the slight flare of the hemline just above the knee. Instead, she was focusing on Maura, standing just behind her shoulder with a look on her face that Jane had never seen before.

And all she could think about was how easy it would be to turn around and kiss her.

She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry when, two seconds apart, their cell phones started ringing, effectively shattering the atmosphere that had begun to feel so charged it was almost unbearable. She was even less sure what to think about Maura's hand, still resting on her shoulder as they both reached to answer the calls. The only thing that she could say with any certainty was that, when Maura hung up and finally moved her hand, she immediately missed the contact.

This was not good.

'Here, let me take that'.

Maura gestured to the dress, and Jane realised that she was waiting for her to get changed back into her own clothes. The news of a possible homicide in Mission Hill meant that there was no time for shyness now, and she hurriedly pulled it off and stepped out of the puddle of material that pooled on the floor. Ignoring Maura's tuts of disapproval, she yanked on her pants and shirt, and grabbed her blazer just as Maura opened the door to the cubicle.

'Any good?'

The changing room attendant, ever-smiling and helpful, took the dress from Maura's hands and began to fix it back on the hanger, waiting for the verdict.

'Yes'.

'No'.

Jane and Maura spoke simultaneously, and the attendant looked slightly confused.

'I'll take it. Thank you'.

'Maura!' Jane hissed as she followed her over to the tills. 'We don't have time for this! And why do you have your credit card in your hand?''

'Of course we have time. Two minutes. And think of it as a late birthday present'.

'My birthday was six months ago'.

Maura shrugged as she handed over the card to the sales assistant.

'An early one for next year,then'.

But Jane was no longer concentrating on the transaction taking place in front of her. The mention of birthdays had brought her right back to the reason that they were there in the first place, and she groaned out loud.

'Shit! Frankie!'

'Well, we haven't really got time for that now'. Maura handed Jane the bag. 'We'll find something though, there's still tomorrow'.

'Yeah, with a murder investigation on'. Jane turned to follow Maura out of the store. 'Crap! My mother is going to kill me'.

'It's Frankie's birthday but it's your mother that's going to kill you?'

'Don't laugh, you know what she's like'.

'Yes'. Maura paused, her expression innocent. 'How is that insect bite, by the way?'

Jane almost stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. Did Maura really have to bring that up? Now?

'Fine'. She paused. 'Itchy'.

'It will be. Remind me later, I've got some cream that will help'.

_Only if you're going to be rubbing it in_...stop that, Rizzoli. Not helping.

They walked the rest of the way quickly and in silence. Jane's mind was whirring, her thoughts alternately flitting between what might be awaiting them at Mission Hill and what had just happened - almost happened - back at the store.

She wondered what she would have done if the phone call hadn't come when it did. Would she have turned around? Caught Maura's lips with hers? And if she had, how would Maura have reacted?

She was no longer sure of the answer to either of those questions.

'Hey, Maura?'

Maura turned as they reached the precinct steps, and Jane held up the bag.

'Thank you. For this. You really shouldn't have, but...'

Maura's face broke into a smile, and Jane couldn't help but return it even as she saw that look in her friend's eyes again.

The look that, in the changing rooms, had said _kiss me_.

'You're welcome. And besides...' Maura paused, and Jane knew that this time she was not imagining it. 'It was as much for me as for you.' Another pause, before the next quiet words left Jane rooted to the spot.

'You looked beautiful'.


	3. Chapter 3

'It looks like a suicide'.

'Which means it probably is a suicide'.

Frost and Korsak stood over the prone body that was slumped across the couch, taking stock of the sight in front of them. At the tender age of thirty one, Toby Redfell had died from a single gunshot wound to the right side of the head, and Maura knew what the detectives were seeing. The pattern of blood spatter on the wall behind him indicated that it had happened right there, and there was a gun on the floor that looked as if it had dropped from his right hand. No sign of forced entry - in fact, no sign of anyone else having been there at all, and the top-of-the-range laptop was open on the coffee table with a typed note on the screen.

It certainly did look like a suicide. But Maura, crouched on the floor in front of the body, still looked up at the two men with a frown on her face.

'Which means no such thing. You'll have to wait for any definite conclusions until I've done the autopsy'.

'But he died here, right?'

Maura turned to see Jane walking into the living room, her hands still encased in blue gloves and the sleeves of her shirt and blazer rolled up to her elbows, and she swallowed. Since they had arrived at the new apartment block half an hour ago, Maura had been so focused on what she had to do that she had not thought about Jane. Or what had happened - almost happened - at the department store.

At least, she thought, that meant that she wasn't losing her mind completely.

'Lividity indicates that he died sitting down'. Maura pointed to the darkening of the skin on the underside of Toby Redfell's legs, showing where the blood had settled after death.

'Yeah, but I meant that he died sitting down here. Right?' Jane indicated the couch, and Maura could have sworn that she saw the beginnings of a smirk on the detective's face. Jane knew how much she hated making even the most obvious guess before she had had the chance to process everything properly in the orderly calm of her lab, and Maura narrowed her eyes. She suspected that Jane was doing it deliberately.

'I will tell you later, when I've had a chance to process everything'.

'Ah, come on, Maura'.

Jane walked over and crouched down next to her as Frost moved over to speak to the uniformed cop hovering in the doorway. She was concentrating on the corpse, but Maura was struck by her sudden proximity and wondered if the hammering of her heart sounded as loud as she thought it did. She hoped not.

And anyway, this was totally inappropriate at a potential crime scene.

'Blood spatter straight across there'. Jane pointed to the wall, and Maura followed her finger. 'Consistent with the gun being held to his right temple...' She moved her finger down to the neat hole in Toby Redfell's head. 'And fired at close range'.

This was definitely deliberate. But, Maura decided, two could play at that game.

'Have you actually tested that to make sure it's blood?'

Jane turned her head to face Maura, an incredulous look on her face.

'What else is it gonna be? Ketchup? Barbecue sauce?'

'No, but there's lots of things that are red, Jane. Not just blood'.

Maura knew that Jane was gearing up to argue, but at that moment Frost walked back into the room and interrupted before she could even begin.

'That was the landlady, she lives downstairs. Told her we'd be down to talk to her and take a statement, but she did say that he lived alone and has done since he started renting this place three years ago. Quiet, always paid the rent on time...' He paused, and consulted his notes. 'A very nice young man'.

Korsak huffed, and Maura jumped. She had almost forgotten he was there.

'They always are'.

'Okay. Korsak, you finish processing here. Frost, I'll come with you, talk to the landlady'. Jane straightened up and, as she did so, her stomach gave an enormous rumble.

'What the hell did you eat for lunch?'

'I didn't'.

Frost looked disbelieving. 'Thought you two went out?'

'We did. Shopping'.

'Oh yeah'. Frost brightened up. 'Find anything?'

'Not for Frankie'.

'Doctor Isles, I'm disappointed'. Korsak did indeed look as if he had just been seriously let down. 'We'll be forced to order the Red Sox sweats now'.

'No. Over...'

Jane abruptly stopped, and Maura smirked as she realised why.  _Over my dead body_. Hardly the best choice of words given where they were. But she felt compelled to make it clear that she hadn't failed completely. She did, after all, have a reputation to protect, and she had never yet returned from a shopping trip empty-handed.

'I found Jane something. A dress'.

'A what?'

Both Korsak and Frost looked astounded, and Jane grimaced.

'You don't know what a dress is, Korsak?'

'Sure I do, but I've never seen you in one. You really get her to buy it, Doc?'

Maura couldn't help grinning at the look of discomfort on Jane's face.

'Well, no...I had to buy it for her. But she did try it on'.

Frost whistled softly, smiling from ear to ear. He loved teasing Jane almost as much as Korsak did, but it wasn't often that they had a willing accomplice.

'Now that I have to see'.

Jane shook her head firmly.

'You should be so lucky. Now can we go, please?'

Still chuckling, Frost walked out into the hallway as Korsak collected a handful of evidence bags and headed towards the kitchen. It didn't escape Maura's attention that she was now alone with Jane. And that Jane was clearly waiting for the other two to be out of earshot before she said anything.

'Did you really have to? I'll never hear the end of it now'.

Maura nodded as she straightened up. She knew that her eyes were challenging Jane. Flirting with her. And she didn't care. She knew that she had not been mistaken back at the department store, when they had been in the changing cubicle and she had sensed with absolute certainty that Jane had wanted to kiss her. She was fairly sure that she was not mistaken now, as she saw a slight darkening of Jane's eyes, along with the hints of excitement and heat and fear that Maura knew were mirrored in her own face. And it had not taken her long to figure out where all the crazy feelings that seemed to be overtaking her were coming from.

It was a simple chemical reaction that was telling her, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that she was in trouble.

Her friend's face earlier, on the precinct steps, had been a priceless combination of astonishment, shock, and disbelief as the meaning of Maura's words had sunk in. ' _It was as much for me as for you. You looked beautiful'_. She had meant every word, although her heart had been pounding as she spoke and, as she had quickly called in at her lab to pick up the gear she would need, she had noticed that her palms were clammy and that she felt shaky.

Norepinephrine - the chemical that makes the heart race and the sweat glands go into overdrive. On top of that, dopamine was giving her a high that, scientifically speaking, was similar to a tiny dose of cocaine, and massive amounts of seratonin were sending her temporarily insane.

She was completely at the mercy of a biochemical Cupid. This kind of behaviour was so unlike her, and she was not at all sure that she should be succumbing quite so easily...but in a dangerously exciting kind of way, it felt good.

Really good.

'I didn't just spend almost a hundred dollars on a dress for it to be shoved in the back of your closet'.

She saw a smile spread across Jane's face, a sexy smile that made Maura feel a bit weak at the knees.

Or maybe it was just because she hadn't had lunch.

'Yeah, I know'. Jane nodded. 'But since you bought it...thought you might want the first showing'.

As the detective left the room to join Frost, Maura let out a long, slow breath. She had never dared to even dream that her feelings towards Jane might be reciprocated.

Until now.

* * *

' _I didn't just spend almost a hundred dollars on a dress for it to be shoved in the back of your closet_ '.

Jane didn't need her detective's badge to figure out the bit that Maura had left unsaid.

_I want to see you in it._

A slow, slightly tentative smile crossed her face as she took in Maura's expression. Her friend never had been much good at hiding her feelings, and Jane could almost hear the furious debate going on inside her head.  _I want this woman in front of me_  versus  _you shouldn't be attracted to your best friend_  - exactly the same dilemma that had kept Jane up for most of the night.

She wondered which one was winning in Maura's mind. She had thought she knew, but...well. She wasn't really sure of anything any more.

' _Thought you might want the first showing.._.'

As she turned away to follow Frost down to speak to the landlady, she saw the shock on Maura's face turn to a barely-concealed spark of desire. It was what she had been secretly hoping for, what she had been wanting to see. But it also left her with a sudden, cowardly terror that perhaps she had gone too far. She didn't know what she was doing, and maybe she didn't want this to happen anyway.

That feeling was still with her twenty minutes later as she and Frost wrapped up their interview with the landlady downstairs.

'Are you sure there's nothing else you can tell us, Mrs Morris?'

The small, dark haired woman shook her head vigorously at Frost, even though it was Jane that had asked the question.

'Nope, there's nothing else. As I said, I never saw him except when he paid the rent, and that was always like clockwork. In cash, the last day of every month. Suicide, you say? Well, who would have thought it?'

Jane opened her mouth to ask another question, but Frost cut in smoothly before she could speak.

'Indeed. But if you do think of anything else...' He handed over his card. 'Don't hesitate to give us a call'.

'I certainly will do, Detective...?'

'Frost'.

'Detective Frost'.

Jane rolled her eyes as they left the apartment, and mimicked Frost's voice softly as they headed back upstairs.

'Don't hesitate to give us a call?' She raised her eyebrows at him. 'She'll be calling you all right'.

Frost chuckled.

'She's just lonely'.

'Yeah, well. Good luck with that one'. Jane grinned as she ducked under the police tape that was now stretched across the doorway of the victim's apartment, and skirted around the uniformed officer to make her way back to the living room. She could see that Maura was still there with Korsak, and she took a deep breath. She still hadn't quite calmed her jitters down from earlier.

'We all done?'

Maura turned to look at her, but Jane deliberately avoided her gaze and directed her question to Korsak instead.

'We're all done. The autopsy should confirm whether it was a suicide or not'.

'Ok...anything to say that it wasn't?'

'Only this'. Korsak pointed to the laptop, now sealed in a large evidence bag. 'There's two sets of fingerprints on the keyboard,one of which will be Redfell's. But he lived alone, and this was his personal laptop. And I'm wondering what kind of person types a suicide note instead of writing one'.

'So someone else has been using the laptop. You're thinking that someone else typed that note?'

Korsak shrugged.

'Nah, probably not. It's unlikely, it's just niggling at me, that's all. It was probably a friend wanting to check email or something'.

'Yeah'. Jane sighed. Death never happened at a good time, but this, right now...she could really have done without it.

She felt a familiar twinge of despondency, of sadness as she looked once more at the body on the couch. There was always another one. It seemed that human beings would always kill each other, and if they did not kill each other, they would kill themselves. And, once more, she was there to pick up the pieces.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Korsak leave the room, or see that Maura was standing, bag in hand, looking at her with a curious expression on her face.

'The body'll be taken back to the morgue. We don't need to wait around here'.

Jane started at the sound of Maura's voice, and gave herself a mental shake. The was nothing more they could do here for the moment and, if it turned out that Toby Redfell had shot himself in the head, there wasn't much that she would be able to do at all. No point in dwelling on it until they knew for certain what they were dealing with.

'Yeah. Coming'.

* * *

Four hours later, in the cool calm of the autopsy suite, Toby Redfell's ordeal was almost over. He had been thoroughly dissected, inside and out, and all that remained was for his blood and tissue samples to be analysed by the crime lab, and for the gaping hole that had once been his chest to be sewn back together.

Maura wondered if he had realised that this was how it would all end.

It always seemed a bit unfair to her. The bodies that ended up on her table had usually been put through some sort of trauma already, whether self-inflicted or not, and then, on top of that, they had to suffer the final, undignified invasion of privacy that was an autopsy. Everything laid bare on a steel table for the whole world to see, identity reduced to the sum of body parts and the status as a victim. She suppressed a shudder as she hoped, for the umpteenth time, that she would never end up on such a table. She hoped that she would never need the help of someone like her, someone who dedicated their careers - their lives - to speaking for the dead. No, she wanted to die of old age. Preferably in her sleep after a good meal and a bottle of pinot noir.

But this time, apart from the obvious bullet wound in the head, there hadn't been a great deal to find. Toby Redfell's body would have served him well for many more years to come, if it had only been given the chance.

'Mr Redfell is a very healthy specimen'.

Maura straightened up and dropped her scalpel in the tray, ignoring Jane's raised eyebrows.

'Apart from the fact that he's dead, you mean?'

She ignored that too.

It had not escaped her notice that Jane hadn't been able to meet her eyes back at the victim's apartment. Nor had she missed the way that Jane was now trying to act as if everything was normal, when Maura could tell that she felt anything but. It was obvious that things had somehow shifted between them. A very thin, invisible line had been crossed, and Maura could see Jane desperately trying to get back over it before any damage was done. But she couldn't help wondering if that was what Jane really wanted.

There was only one way to find out.

'So is it suicide?'

Jane's impatient question brought Maura out of her reverie.

'Not necessarily'.

'So it's a homicide'.

Maura shook her head as she pulled off her gloves and dropped them in the hazard bin. 'Not necessarily'.

'Alien attack?'

'I don't think aliens would use a Colt 45'. Maura couldn't help but grin at Jane's expression. 'Suspicious death. Until I get all the lab results back from the blood and tissue samples'.

'That's worse than the aliens', Jane groaned. 'Come on, you know suspicious death gives me a headache. It covers everything'.

'Tylenol?' Maura offered the packet of painkillers from the steel desk drawer, and Jane grimaced.

'Depends. How long am I likely to have a headache for?'

Maura sighed. She knew that Jane genuinely hated having to wait for results when she could be out there tracking down the people who had committed the crime in the first place, but in this case, she didn't think there was much they could do.

'Tomorrow'.

Jane grabbed the packet of Tylenol.

'Are these extra strong? Come on, Maura. Something. Anything. I promise you won't get hives'.

Maura shook her head.

'You can't promise that'. She took a deep breath, trying to phrase it in such a way that she wouldn't feel like she was making a presumptuous guess. 'But so far, I have not found anything to suggest that there was anyone else involved'.

She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the tell-tale prickle on her neck, but she felt nothing. When she opened her eyes again, it was to see Jane's face breaking into a smile, and her hand outstretched to give the painkillers back.

'Thank you'.

As she turned to leave the autopsy suite, Maura felt slightly panicky.  _There was only one way to find out_...well, now or never.

'Jane?'

'Yeah?'

'Would you...uh...'

For the first time that she could remember, Maura's voice and brain failed her completely. She had no idea what she wanted to say, and even if she had, she wasn't sure that she would have been able to get the words out. After she had been standing there for a good twenty seconds with her mouth open and a terrified expression on her face, Jane gave her gentle prompt.

'Would I...?'

It did the trick.

'You forgot this'.

No, that wasn't what she had meant to say. But she reached over to the desk anyway, and picked up the small tube of cream that she had left there for Jane - or someone else - to rub into the insect bite. Jane's eyes widened slightly as she handed it over.

'Thanks'.

And... 'Would you like to get dinner tomorrow?'

She could tell that the question took Jane by surprise, and she didn't blame her. The two of them usually ended up eating together, somewhere - either at her place, or the Dirty Robber, or at Jane's apartment, the sophistication decreasing with each one. But neither of them had ever asked the other. It just happened.

Then she saw the realisation dawn on Jane's face.

She was expecting a 'no'. Or at least a 'this isn't a good idea'. But instead, after a few agonising seconds, what she got was a slow nod and another smile.

'You want to come over to mine?'

All sorts of answers flew through Maura's mind, many of them drawing attention to Jane's terrible cooking.  _Cocoa puffs are not particularly nutritious_. Or  _as long as you don't blow up scrambled eggs in the microwave again_.

'Okay'.

'Okay'. Jane pulled open the door to the morgue. 'Oh, and Maura? Keep thinking for Frankie'.

Maura just nodded as Jane left. She couldn't have answered anyway. There it was again...the rapid heart rate, the shallow breathing, and - ugh. Clammy palms.

She told herself not to get too excited. She still didn't really know how Jane felt, or what she was expecting from dinner tomorrow apart from food. And anyway, she had just made arrangements to do what she did five nights out of seven, every single week. There shouldn't have been anything different about it.

And yet everything was different. This didn't just feel like best friends having dinner.

This felt like a date.

And, whether it was right or wrong or anything in between, Maura found that she was looking forward to it.


	4. Chapter 4

Jane stood in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom, and took a few deep, calming breaths to try and steady her nerves. She had not long been home and, having ignored Jo Friday's pleas for dinner, had jumped straight in the shower and was now in her underwear, deciding what to put on. Jeans and a t-shirt would be the most comfortable, but they were hardly the sexiest.

At that thought, she gave a small, slightly hysterical giggle that made Jo Friday look up in bemusement. It was Maura, for heaven's sake. Since when had she worried about looking sexy for Maura?

She didn't try and answer that.

It had been a longer day than she had expected, or wanted, but a reasonable one none the less. The lab results on Toby Redfell had come back clear - nothing unexpected in the blood and tissue samples, and the fingerprints all matched up. The extra set on the laptop had turned out to belong to his mother, who had visited him the day before he died, and telling her that her son had committed suicide was one of the hardest things that Jane had ever had to do.

But then, that part of the job was never easy.

In between that, and finishing off the mountain of paperwork that seemed to have accumulated on her desk, she had hardly seen Maura all day. Just a quick visit first thing that morning to confirm the lab's findings, and to check that Maura would be signing Redfell off as a suicide. It was maybe just as well - she had been nervous enough about the evening ahead as it was, and still hadn't been quite sure that she had done the right thing in agreeing to it. But that hadn't stopped her from thinking, imagining, dreaming... And when she had finally managed to push the doctor out of her mind and concentrate on the task in hand, she had ended up losing track of time. It had been just past six when she had finally left the precinct.

And now she couldn't decide what to wear.

In the end, it was Jo Friday who made the decision for her. Tired of waiting for her food, the little dog started nosing into the plastic bag that Jane had left on the floor of the bedroom, and Jane turned around at the sound of rustling.

'Hey! No, Jo, leave that alone...' She paused, and Jo Friday's tail started wagging. 'What, you think I should wear that?'

She pulled the dress out of the bag before Jo Friday could decide that, at this point, anything was edible, and held it up against herself. She had promised Maura that she would wear it. And at least if she wore it tonight, it would just be her and Maura. No one else would be around to tease her about getting her legs out.

Jo Friday barked.

'Ok, ok. I'll take that as a yes'.

Another bark, more insistent this time, as Jane stepped into the dress and, with some careful wriggling, managed to pull the zip all the way up.

'There...Jo, what the hell is wrong with you?'

It was only when the dog turned and scampered though to the kitchen that Jane realised she hadn't been fed. Grumbling under her breath, she followed her through, and was just tipping some dried food into the plastic dog bowl when there was a knock on her door.

Maura.

Bang on time...was it really eight already?

And Jane hadn't even thought about what they were going to eat for dinner themselves. Her living room was a tip. She had no shoes on. Her hair was still a damp, slightly frizzy mess. And the butterflies that had been jumping around in her stomach felt like they had suddenly taken flight all at once.

'Hi'.

'Hi'.

Maura, as usual, looked impeccable. Stunning, in fact. So much so that Jane actually hesitated before standing aside to let her in. Surely she must have got this wrong.

'Is everything okay?' Maura looked concerned and slightly uncertain, and Jane realised that she had not missed the halting step. 'I can go if you're too tired or...'

'No, of course not'. Jane shook her head. Nervous as she was, she really, really didn't want Maura to leave, and she ushered her friend in before closing and locking the door behind her. Maura had changed out of the dress that she had worn to work, and was now wearing cream pants and a sleeveless dusky pink top under a light jacket, along with the highest peep-toe heels that Jane had ever seen.

'They cannot be comfortable'.

_Great start, Rizzoli_.

'What?' For a second, Maura looked confused, and then her expression cleared as she realised Jane was gazing at the shoes. 'Oh, no, they're fine. More than fine, actually. I have some gel inserts that fit under the medial-longitudinal arch of the foot, and support the lateral cuneiform so it's much more comfortable than just wearing them by themselves'.

'Right'. Jane blinked. 'I'll assume there was English in there somewhere'.

'I brought this'. Maura held up a bottle of very expensive looking red wine as she walked - without any hint of discomfort - into the small kitchen and living area, and Jane squinted at the label. Pinot noir. Of course.

'And this'.

Jane almost laughed she realised that, in her other hand, Maura was holding a six pack of beer.

'Thanks. Stick those in the fridge, would you? I just need to, uh...' She pointed to her hair, and Maura smiled as she put the drinks down on the kitchen counter and bent down to pet Jo Friday, taking care not to get dog hairs on her blouse.

'It looks lovely as it is'. She looked up at Jane, and gestured to the dress, her eyes lingering over the low neckline, the wrap waist. 'So does that. You look beautiful'.

Jane swallowed hard. There it was again - that word that she had never thought would be used to describe her.  _Beautiful_. And now she had heard it twice in the space of two days.

'Right. Well, I'll just...uh...'

Maura laughed as she straightened up.

'Can I do anything?'

Jane gave herself a mental shake as she took the beers from the counter and walked over to the fridge. If she had gone over to Maura's, there would have been a pot of something exotic simmering on the stove. Despite the fact that Maura, like her, had been at work all day, it would have all been prepared and dealt with before Jane got there, so that all there was left to do was to regale Jane with the history and provenance of the dish before they ate it.

But Jane actually had no idea what she had in. She had intended to stop by the deli on her way home but, running late, she had completely forgotten.

Think. Quickly. Food.

'Uh...' She opened the fridge and deposited the bottles as she assessed what was in there. It didn't take long. An onion that was sprouting green bits, a pot of yogurt and a small block of cheese. Plus several more bottles of beer. 'Grate some cheese?'

'Sure. What's it for?'

Jane turned and grimaced sheepishly.

'Cheese toasties? Or if you're not in the mood for those...I don't actually have anything else. But I'm sure Jo wouldn't mind sharing her dinner'.

Maura looked astounded for a moment before they both burst into laughter, and Jane felt most of her hesitancy, her uncertainty, melt away as she remembered what it was that had made her want this to start with.

Only with Maura could she stand in her heap of a kitchen, in a dress that looked like it belonged in a cocktail bar, and talk about cheese toasties versus dog biscuits for dinner on what was meant to be a kind of first date - and know, deep down, that it didn't matter. That Maura was here for her, and for her alone. Nothing else mattered.

The fact that Maura looked amazing was just an added benefit. Although, Jane had to admit, it was a pretty important one.

'I suppose the wine will go nicely...with the toasties, that is, not the dog food'. Maura slipped off her jacket, still smiling, and walked over to the kitchen cupboard. 'Do you have any tomato soup as well?'

Before Jane could answer, she had triumphantly pulled a can from the back of the shelf.

'Perfect'.

* * *

Stirring soup and sipping wine, Maura felt the last traces of her awkwardness and nerves fall away. She had told herself over and over again that afternoon that feeling ill at ease was silly - she was just going over to Jane's apartment for something to eat after work, and it had, after all, been her suggestion - but she hadn't been able to help worrying. What if Jane didn't see this the same way she did? What if it was not what she wanted?

It was only now, still giggling over the idea of sharing Jo Friday's dog biscuits and with most of a glass of wine inside her, that she was beginning to feel better. It had just reminded her that this was why she was attracted to Jane in the first place.

No one had ever made her laugh like Jane could. No one had ever made her feel as comfortable and as confident in herself as Jane had. And she suddenly felt absurdly happy knowing that Jane had wanted her here despite her long day, and despite the fact that she hadn't had time to go shopping or dry her hair or tidy up in preparation. Jane had wanted to see her, just as she had wanted to see Jane. Nothing else really mattered.

The red dress was just a bonus.

Although Maura had to admit it was a pretty big one, especially when she knew that Jane had worn it for her. And she wasn't sure how much longer she could stand by and not carry on with what they had started the previous day at the department store.

Leaving the soup simmering on the stove, she stepped over to where Jane was assembling sandwiches on a wooden chopping board, and reached over her to grab a bit of the grated cheese.

'Hey!'

'Sorry'. Maura popped the cheese in her mouth, and leaned back against the counter. 'My soup's nearly ready'.

'Your soup?' Jane turned to her, eyebrows raised. 'Does that mean that all these toasties are mine?'

Maura shook her head, a smile playing around her lips, and was gratified to see Jane's eyes wander across her mouth, and down her neck to her top before quickly, slightly guiltily, turning back to the toasties. She had already realised that, if she wanted this, she would have to be the one to make the first move. And she had already realised that she did want it. Wanted it enough to risk the embarrassment and awkwardness that would probably be the result if Jane said no.

But now she was almost sure that Jane's answer would be yes.

She went some way towards proving that theory just a couple of moments later when, having transferred the sandwiches to the grill, Jane decided to taste a mouthful of the soup.

'Ouch!'

Maura spluttered with laughter.

'It's bubbling, Jane. That means it's hot'.

'Yeah. I got that. The hard way...damn it, I hate burning my tongue...' Jane dropped the spoon back into the pan, and waved her hands in front of her mouth as if fanning it, trying to cool it down.

Maura couldn't help herself. Still smiling, she stepped over to Jane and took hold of her hands, moving them away from her mouth. She felt Jane stiffen slightly at the touch, saw the slight wariness in the brown eyes that were fixed on Maura's face...but she didn't move away.

'Let me see?' Maura's tone was teasing, but Jane hesitated for just a second before sticking her tongue out and Maura shook her head. 'No, I can't see any burns that would require immediate medical attention. Although technically the contact area wasn't large enough to...' She trailed off, and shrugged slightly at Jane's expression.

'Well, it hurts'. Jane pouted. 'And so do my lips'.

Maura moved closer, her heart pounding. She could feel Jane's fingers beginning to shake slightly in her hands but, when she looked into her eyes she saw that the caution, the watchfulness, had mostly gone. There was a glimmer of apprehension, of concern. But mostly what she saw was desire.

'Maybe...I should kiss it better?'

She didn't wait for an answer before gently pressing her lips to the corner of Jane's mouth, then again a little bit further over, and then again, working her way across Jane's lips in a series of light, soft kisses until she felt Jane begin to respond. Pulling back, she saw that Jane's eyes were closed and her breathing was ragged and shallow, and, in the midst of her own desire, she felt a stab of satisfaction. If she could do that just with a few chaste kisses, then...God. What she wouldn't give to see the reactions that she could coax out of Jane's body in bed.

'Jesus, Maura'. Jane's voice was barely more than a whisper.

'Is that better?'

Jane's eyes flew open.

'No!'

Maura raised her eyebrows, trying not to laugh at the indignant look on Jane's face.

'Well, I'm not sure what other treatment to try...'

'This would be a good start'.

Maura felt Jane's hands slip out of her grip and move up to her face, cupping her cheeks, and then, suddenly, Jane's lips were on hers and...oh. Wow.

Somewhere in the back of her mind Maura wondered if, deep down, she had known that Jane's lips would be this soft, that she would taste so good, that her body would fit so perfectly up against Maura's as they pressed together in an embrace that, this time, quickly became anything but restrained. Hands tangled in hair and roamed down backs and breasts. Tongues darted, and flicked, and demanded entry into willing mouths while breathing became little more than frenzied gasps of air snatched in between kisses. Maura didn't think that she had ever felt sensations so intensely, couldn't remember the last time she had kissed with such passion, such hunger, and received the same back. Jane's hands on her back and on the side of her breasts sent a delicious shiver down her spine and, involuntarily, she arched forwards a little, leaning into those long fingers that were working such magic through her blouse. She wanted more. She didn't want it to end.

A sudden, loud spluttering and sizzling from the grill intruded into Maura's brain, forcing its way through the clouds of desire that had dulled her senses to everything except Jane. Grilled cheese. Damn it.

'Jane...'

'Hmmmm?'

Maura gasped as Jane's lips moved from her mouth and found the sensitive spot on her neck, just below her ear, and it was a few seconds before she could speak again.

'The grill...'

'Crap!'

Jane hurriedly pulled away and turned off the grill, waving away the thin plume of smoke that was starting to waft out from the pan. The toasties were black on one side and still uncooked on the other, but the look of outraged dismay on Jane's face was enough to give Maura the giggles. When she started laughing, the exasperated expression that Jane then turned on her just made things worse.

'I'm sorry', she gasped, waving her hands. She wasn't sure what, exactly, was so funny, since it probably meant that she would have to speak nicely to Jo Friday after all. Maybe it was the wine. Or maybe she was just on such a high after that kiss that anything would have made her laugh.

She tried to take a few deep breaths to control herself, and reached for Jane's hand. Part of her just wanted to take Jane through to the bedroom and forget all about everything else, but her stomach was reminding her that, once again, she had skipped lunch. And her head was telling her that two glasses of wine on an empty stomach would probably qualify her as tipsy. Nice as that feeling was, she decided that she wanted to be as sober as possible for the rest of the evening, for when - if - she took Jane to bed.

She wanted to remember every single second.

'So. Take-out, then. I would go for pizza.'

* * *

'Ummm, that was good'. Maura moaned in satisfaction as she swallowed the last bite of pizza, and Jane took a deep breath. She would never have thought that the sound would be such a turn on...but then again, she was learning lots of new things tonight.

For example, she had learnt that Maura's curves really did fit perfectly together with her own, just like she had imagined they would, and that, when they had been holding each other in the kitchen, it had felt like the most natural thing in the world. She had learnt that Maura's fingers were capable of making her skin tingle in delight and in anticipation of what might be to come, and she had learnt that the honey-blonde hair was actually as soft as it looked. She had also discovered that, when Maura kissed her, it sent her body completely haywire and left her wanting more. Much more.

And now, it seemed, she had learnt that Maura stole pizza toppings.

'You stole my pepperoni'.

'Did not'.

'Hives, Maura'.

Jane tried to keep a straight face as she saw Maura's hand instinctively go to her neck. They hadn't been able to agree on a pizza, so had opted for half-and-half pepperoni and vegetable. The vegetable half, of course, had been for Maura. But Jane knew that she had seen a couple of slices of pepperoni disappear in amongst the mushrooms and peppers, and she couldn't resist teasing Maura about it.

It kept her from thinking. It stopped her from wondering whether it was wrong that she had enjoyed their kiss so much, and it also prevented her from panicking over what, exactly, they were going to do now that they had finished eating.

'I didn't...they were over my side of the pizza anyway'. Maura sounded triumphant as she closed the takeout box.

'But you didn't give them back'.

'No. But I didn't steal them'.

Jane pretended to huff as she took another mouthful of beer. For a couple of minutes, she ignored Maura's eyes on her. She didn't want to think about the fact that it was now late and that, usually, Maura would stay over rather than get a taxi or drive home.

But she couldn't avoid it for very long.

'What have we just done, Maura?'

She couldn't look at Maura as she quietly asked the question. She knew that the now-familiar dilemma between uncertainty and longing was written all over her face, but this time she didn't care. She had just kissed her best friend. The time for discretion had been and gone.

'Don't think'. Jane felt Maura's hand cover hers as it rested on the table, felt her thumb rub soothingly over the knuckles. 'Just go with what you want to do'.

'That would mean taking you to bed and...' Jane stopped herself before she could finish the sentence but, when she finally screwed up the courage to look at Maura, those hazel eyes had darkened almost to black. She had obviously got the general idea.

'If that's what you want'.

_You have no idea._

'What happens tomorrow?'

Maura smiled. 'Jane, the world isn't going to stop turning just because we sleep together'.

'Actually, based on that last kiss, I think it might'.

Maura laughed, and the sound made Jane smile too. It was infectious. But Maura quickly sobered up, and reached out for Jane's other hand.

'Jane, I have to be honest'.

'Of course you do, or you break out in a rash'.

Maura shook her head impatiently. 'Not because of that. You're my best friend, and I really don't want to do anything to jeopardise that. But...well, I've wanted this for a long time'.

Jane nodded slowly. If Maura was being honest, the least she could do was reciprocate.

'Yeah'. She blew out a long breath. 'I think I have too'.

'But if you decide this isn't how you want things to be, or you want to take things slow, or you want me to leave, then that's fine. Whatever you want. I couldn't pretend to be happy about it, obviously, since that would be a blatant lie and then the aforementioned rash would break out...

everywhere...but...' She shrugged, her thumb shaking as it rubbed over Jane's palm, betraying her nerves.

Jane shook her head. Given that choice, she didn't even really need to think about it anymore.

This was definitely what she wanted. And they'd come this far. Too far to backtrack.

Besides, if Maura left now...well. The term 'sexual frustration' wouldn't come anywhere close.

'Then stay?'

Another smile spread across Maura's face, and suddenly Jane could see the relief in her eyes as she leaned over for another kiss.

'I'd like that'.

Half an hour later, Maura took her turn in the bathroom while Jane somehow made it to the bedroom, her whole body humming with anticipation. She was shaky and breathless already, and that was just from a kiss at the kitchen table. Granted, they had quickly moved to the sofa, and it had become a little more than just a kiss...but still. She wasn't used to her body reacting in this way. And her brain was worse than useless.

She stood at the foot of the bed, wondering just how, exactly, this was supposed to work, and what she was supposed to do. She couldn't remember which side of the bed Maura usually slept on. Hell, she couldn't even remember which side she normally slept on. Should she undress while Maura was in the bathroom, or should she wait? And what would she do if...?

Too late.

'Are you okay?'

Maura was beside her, turning her round so that her fingers could stroke Jane's cheek. The touch made Jane's breath catch in her throat, and her heart skipped a beat as she felt the tenderness and the warmth and the desire behind it.

She nodded.

'Just...'. She swallowed. 'How does this work?'

Maura smiled, but Jane knew that she wasn't laughing at her. Instead, it was a slow, sensual, slightly satisfied smile that sent heat rushing in between Jane's legs and made her feel slightly dizzy. That feeling only got worse as she felt Maura's hands slip around her back to the zipper on the dress, and heard the softly whispered words in her ear.

'Like this'.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading this! The kudos and comments really mean a lot. This is the last chapter of this one - hope you enjoy.

The first thing that Maura became aware of, before she had even opened her eyes, was that she was lying on the wrong side of the bed.

The second thing was the quilt that covered her. It felt different, somehow. Not quite as thick as it should have been, although still soft, and the faint lavender smell it held wasn't quite right either.

And then, as she turned over, her hand struck something warm. Something smooth, something that felt suspiciously like skin.

Something that grunted.

'Ummph. Gah-way, Jo'.

Maura's eyes flew open, and her heart thumped out a couple of beats before returning to normal as she realised where she was.

Jane's apartment.

In bed.

With Jane.

Who, judging by the grumbled, sleepy comment, obviously thought that Maura was Jo Friday come looking for breakfast.

Relaxing back into the pillows, Maura smiled to herself as she looked over at the woman lying next to her. The early morning sunlight was bright and fresh, dancing its way around the gaps at the side of the curtains to fall in radiant beams across the bed, but Jane's eyes were still tightly closed. Her dark hair fell in unruly curls over her face as she lay on her side, and Maura wondered whether she could reach out and brush it away without waking her. She decided not to risk it for the moment, settling for looking - and remembering - instead.

Although remembering didn't take very much effort. She wasn't sure that the feel of Jane's fingers inside her, or of Jane's mouth on her, was something that she would easily forget.

To start with, Jane had been unsure. Nervous. She had left it to Maura to take the lead, and Maura had been quite happy to do so. Taking her time, making sure that Jane was comfortable with everything she was doing, exploring, touching, tasting...just that had been incredible. Jane really was gorgeous. But Maura had also felt very close to her, in ways that went beyond the obvious physical intimacy that they were sharing. She had wanted to make Jane wet, had wanted to make her writhe and cry out and beg for more. She had wanted to hear her name on Jane's lips when she came, and she hadn't been disappointed. But she had also wanted to make her feel cared for. Treasured. Loved.

And then Jane had turned the tables.

Maura closed her eyes again and squirmed a little, wriggling further down under the quilt as she recalled being flipped over onto her back, remembered feeling the wetness pool between her legs as Jane straddled her and hearing the throaty chuckle when, after several minutes of teasing, she hadn't been able take any more and had pushed Jane's hand down to exactly where she wanted it. She had vague recollections of expressing disbelief that this was Jane's first time, before she had felt Jane's mouth on her inner thigh and the rest of the world had disappeared in a sensual haze. And she remembered drifting off to sleep with Jane's arms around her, a lingering feeling of warmth and safety following her into her dreams.

Opening her eyes, she pulled herself up slightly and, before she could stop herself, reached out to brush Jane's hair away from her face. The movement made Jane's eyes flicker open, her face creased in a sleepy frown before she blinked, and focused.

And smiled.

'Hi'.

'Morning'.

Maura smiled back before lowering her lips to Jane's upturned cheek, the kiss soft and warm, and she felt Jane's hand curl around her waist in response.

'Thought you were Jo. Waking me up for breakfast'.

'Thanks very much'. Maura tried to sound indignant, but failed miserably and ended up spluttering with laughter instead as Jane snuggled in closer, mumbling against Maura's shoulder.

'You're much nicer'.

'Pleased to hear it'.

'Whassa time?'

Maura leaned over to check the small clock on the bedside table.

'Almost seven'.

'Ugh'.

Maura smiled again. Jane was never at her best in the mornings, and she was just about to offer to go and make some coffee when she felt Jane move away and flop over onto her back.

'Maura?'

'Yes?'

'Are you...I mean, do you...'

Maura waited patiently. Jane was gazing up at the ceiling, more awake and alert than Maura had given her credit for, and the slight panic on her face was clear to see as she frantically tried to process the events of the previous evening. Maura thought she knew what Jane wanted to ask. But still, she gave it a minute or so before speaking.

'No'.

Jane turned her head, her eyes wide.

'But you don't even know what I was going to say. Or are you mindreading as well, now?'

'You were going to ask if I'm glad I stayed, and whether I regret anything that happened'.

She saw Jane swallow as she nodded.

'And the answer is no'. Maura took a deep breath. 'Do you?'

She was surprised that Jane didn't even hesitate before shaking her head.

'No'. She paused, and reached for Maura's hand. 'I...'

She suddenly stopped and propped herself up on her elbows, her brow wrinkling and her eyes alarmed, and Maura cocked her head.

'What?'

'Can you hear that?'

'What?' Maura strained her ears, and heard a faint noise coming from the direction of the living room. 'That scratching? Isn't it Jo?'

Jane shook her head, and slipped her hand out of Maura's to point to a corner of the bedroom.

'Jo's there'.

Maura watched as Jane threw back the covers and quickly pulled on a pair of panties and a t-shirt, but was prevented from following her by a warning hand and a soft command.

'Stay here'.

Jane padded over to the door, silently opened it and stepped out into the living area before pushing it closed again. All Maura could do was to listen, and wait...and hope that an early-bird burglar hadn't decided to pick on the wrong apartment. She had no doubt that any intruder would come off worst, and she couldn't have coped with a body at this time in the morning.

But when she heard a crash and a shout, she jumped up. Forgetting about the fact that she was stark naked and had nothing to defend herself or Jane with, she ran towards the bedroom door, ignoring a now-barking Jo Friday, pulled it open...and stopped dead in her tracks.

Jane was standing by the open front door, gun in hand, and an astounded, infuriated expression on her face. Two huge bags lay dropped on the floor in the doorway, and Maura could just see someone beyond Jane, in the hall outside the apartment, two hands held up in a gesture of surrender.

'It's only me, Janie, please don't shoot!'

Oh hell.

Angela.

* * *

Jane couldn't believe that this was happening.

She had been about to tell Maura that it had been a long time since she had felt so close to anyone, and that it had been even longer since she had made love rather than just taken the edge off - and that last night had been different because it had been with Maura.

She had been about to say that, far from regretting anything that had happened between them, she wanted it again. Preferably as soon as possible, so that she could make sure that it hadn't all been an amazing, glorious, technicolor dream.

She had been about to suggest now as a good time.

But instead she was standing by her front door, looking like the world's biggest idiot dressed in just tiny black panties and a bright purple t-shirt, holding a gun on her mother. Angela looked terrified as she held up her hands, a key still clutched firmly in her fingers, and Jane realised that she had been trying to let herself in. At seven in the morning. Damn.

Whatever had possessed her to give her mother a key to her apartment?

'Ma, I gave you a key for emergencies'. Jane hissed as she stood to one side, lowering her gun. 'Emergencies only. I could have shot you!'

'This is an emergency!' Angela wailed, as she stepped inside and gestured to the bags. 'It's Frankie's birthday and I have no running water in my kitchen, and I was going to let myself in and not disturb you, but I guess the key must be a little sticky and...'

She broke off suddenly, and her mouth formed a perfect, silent 'o' as she caught sight of something over Jane's shoulder. Whirling around, Jane was just in time to hear a little squeak, and to see the bedroom door slam shut on a very red-faced, very naked Maura.

She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Could this get any worse?

'Why...' She forced the words out through clenched teeth. 'Why do you have no running water in your kitchen? You're married to a plumber, for heaven's sake'.

'So ask him! I don't know. He says he's trying to fix it, but he's not going fast enough'.

But her reply didn't sound as strident as usual, and when Jane opened her eyes again, she saw that her mother was still gazing, transfixed, at the bedroom door. She groaned inwardly, snapping her fingers in front of Angela's face.

'Earth to Ma...what has that got to do with Frankie's birthday?'

Angela gave a start, and looked round at her.

'Well, I can't make birthday cake in a kitchen with no running water! Anyway, your father told me to get out of his way'.

Oh God.

Jane sighed as she looked at the bulging bags. Of course. She could see flour, and chocolate - lots of chocolate. Sugar. Hazelnuts. And the biggest baking tin that she had ever seen. By the looks of it, Angela was going to be making Frankie's favourite. Torta tartufata. Extra large.

'Ma, I've actually lost count of how old Frankie is, but I think he's past the stage of needing a birthday cake. Anyway...' She paused as a thought struck her, and she folded her arms. 'I never got one'.

'You said you didn't want one!' Angela protested, her eyes wide. 'I would have made you something, but you insisted'.

'So you've come to use my oven'.

It wasn't a question, but Angela nodded.

'And I thought that we might as well have the party here later as well, seeing as your father always leaves one hell of a mess. He never does that in anyone else's kitchen, so I don't know why he does it in mine, but...'

Jane held up a hand to stop her. Right there. Party?

'Party? What the hell?'

'Just a little gathering, family, mostly...you won't mind, will you?'

'I never got one of those, either!'

Angela looked reproachful, but Jane shook her head before she could reply.

'Never mind. Just...use what you need to use, and don't give Jo any chocolate. I'm going to go get ready, I need a shower'.

As soon as she had said it, she regretted it. Angela's raised eyebrows and mischievous expression just made her wish even more that the floor might open up and deposit her safely in the apartment below, well away from this madness. And the next question just made it even worse.

'Did I just...uh, interrupt something?'

Jane felt like screaming.

But she just blinked. Swallowed. And decided against answering at all.

Instead, she gave her mother her best grumpy, early morning glower before turning and heading back to the bedroom to make sure that Maura hadn't made an escape out of the window.

Although if she had, Jane didn't think that she would blame her.

* * *

Maura didn't think that she had ever been so embarrassed in her life.

After realising that Jane's mother had seen her - all of her - she had escaped back into the bedroom, jumped back into bed, and pulled the covers right up to her chin in case Angela decided to investigate further. She could hear snatches of the conversation outside, but had no intention of getting up again to listen at the door. Even the thought of what had happened made her want to die of mortification, and the flame-red colour of her cheeks had only just lightened to a pale beetroot shade when Jane opened the door and slipped in.

She looked as if she couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry.

'I am so sorry, Jane', Maura began. 'I...'

Jane shook her head, and plopped down on the side of the bed.

'It's my crazy mother. I'm the one who should be sorry'.

Maura could already hear Angela in the kitchen, clanging tins and running water and generally making as much noise as she could get away with. It did, however, mean that they could talk without whispering, and it struck Maura that Angela was doing it on purpose.

'Do you think she, um...'

'Realised it was you?' Jane finished for her. 'Oh yeah'.

Maura tried to sink further under the covers.

'I've slept over before, though'. She was desperately trying to think of excuses - any excuse - that they might conceivably be able to give Angela when the inevitable happened and they had to leave the bedroom, but Jane just shook her head again, her mouth starting to twitch.

Maura couldn't believe it. Was she actually going to start laughing? This really, really wasn't funny. Crying would, in this instance, have been a more appropriate response.

'You've always worn pyjamas before'. That was definitely a giggle. A slightly hysterical one, but a giggle none the less.

'Jane!' Maura whispered frantically. 'This isn't funny!'

'Oh believe me, I know'. Jane blinked rapidly as she swallowed her laughter. 'Do you know how insufferable my mother can be when she's proved right?'

'What do you mean?'

'When she thought the other day that she'd interrupted something, that we might be...you know. And now she actually has interrupted something, and she's seen you coming out of my bedroom in your birthday suit...'

The covers were now up to Maura's eyes.

'...She'll be thrilled it's you, I just don't know how many 'I told you sos' I can stand'.

It took Jane's words a few seconds to penetrate Maura's haze of humiliation, but, when they did, she cautiously sat up and let the covers slide down to her neck.

_She'll be thrilled it's you._

'Really?'

Jane, however, obviously thought that she was questioning Angela's ability to gloat, and nodded her head gloomily.

'Her record is six weeks, but this might beat that. Consider yourself warned'.

A warm feeling began to steal over Maura, and she pulled her hand out from under the covers to rest it on Jane's arm.

'No, I meant...do you really think she won't mind?'

Jane looked at her, genuine astonishment on her face.

'Of course she won't'.

'And...' Maura paused, unsure of how to phrase her next question. 'Are you glad it was me?'

She saw Jane's eyes soften, and felt a hand come up to stroke her cheek.

'Yeah, I am'. It was a whisper, but it was all that Maura needed to hear. 'I was going to tell you that before'.

'And, uh...what do you want now?'

_Please don't say just friends._

It was a silent plea, but it came straight from Maura's heart as she waited for Jane to answer. What they had shared had been amazing, and it had been made so much more special because it was Jane. If friends was what Jane really wanted, of course she would try and accept it. She would have to. But it would be the hardest thing she would ever do.

'Well, I don't really want to take my mother's crowing all by myself'.

Maura forced herself to look over at Jane, to see if she had just heard correctly or whether it had just been wishful thinking.

'But if you don't want...I mean, I wouldn't blame you if you don't want that, it's a bit, well...'

The words were coming out in a rush, betraying Jane's nerves as she concentrated on fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt.

'Jane'. Maura moved her hand from Jane's arm to her chin, and gently pulled her face around so that she could look at her properly. 'That's exactly what I want'.

Jane looked as if she couldn't quite believe what she had just heard.

'Really?'

'Really', Maura confirmed. She was smiling now, almost laughing with pure happiness, and she saw the same on Jane's face as she leaned over to kiss her.

'You know...' Maura paused as Jane's lips met hers. 'We should probably go and say good morning to your mother properly'.

'Umm-hmm'. Jane moved her mouth down to Maura's neck and the tingle that shot through Maura's body made her incapable of coherent thought for a good few seconds.

'In fact...' She gasped as Jane's teeth nipped lightly on her ear. 'We should probably thank her as well. I'm not sure I would have...if she hadn't made me think about it...'

Jane chuckled, and Maura felt that delicious shiver again. God, she loved that sound. Especially in bed. And now she would get to hear it a lot more.

'Maybe you should try and find the horsefly that bit me and thank him, too'.

'Actually, it couldn't have been a 'him', Jane, it's only the female flies that bite and anyway...'

'Maura'. Jane's tone was firm. 'Close down the Google browser. It's too early in the morning'.

And as Jane kissed her way down Maura's neck, Maura had no problems complying.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that she remembered that Angela was just in the next room, and that it was actually a week day. If they carried on for much longer she would not only have to explain herself to Angela, but to her lab staff as well. She had never, ever been late for work.

'We should get up or we'll both be late'.

'Ummm'. Jane didn't sound too pleased at the idea, but reluctantly pulled away and stood up, slowly stretching.

Another sight that Maura was looking forward to seeing more of.

'Party for Frankie later, apparently'. Maura could see a sudden shyness in Jane's eyes as the detective looked down at her. 'You wanna come?'

Maura's breath caught in her throat as she realised that Jane was not asking her as a friend. It would have been taken for granted that she would be there in that capacity.

Jane was asking her as her girlfriend.

Was she ready for this? Was Jane?

She nodded.

'I'd love to'.

The radiant smile on Jane's face could have lit up half of Boston, and, basking in the glow, it was a few moments before Maura remembered. Frankie's birthday.

The present.

'I almost forgot!' She pushed down the covers and jumped out of bed in her excitement. 'Frankie's present!'

'Maura, you don't need to worry, it's not your responsibility to buy my little brother a present'. Jane walked over to her closet and threw it open, contemplating the few clothes that were in there. 'I'll pop out again at lunch and...'

'No, no, I've ordered something! I just, well, with everything else...' She paused, and was sure that she could feel herself blushing again. 'I forgot to tell you. It should be arriving this morning'.

Jane's brow furrowed. 'Maura, what have you got?'

'You'll love it'. Maura knew that she was practically bouncing with enthusiasm, but she didn't care. 'Oh, and so will Frankie'.

'Great, so what is it?' Jane looked really curious now. 'And more to the point, how much do I owe you?'

Maura shook her head. 'You don't owe me anything. Perhaps...' Maybe this was going too far, but what the hell. 'Call it a joint present?'

Jane nodded slowly, a smile spreading across her face. 'Fine. In principle. But what is it?'

Before Maura could reply, there was a loud knock at the front door that managed to reach them even over the sound of Angela's electric whisk. Jane swore, and was about to grab a pair of jeans when the whine of the whisk stopped abruptly. Maura heard the front door open, heard Angela thanking someone, and grinned to herself with excitement. The delivery guy had come early.

'Who was it, Ma?'

'Delivery man...I must say, they come very early these days. This feels heavy, Janie, what is it?'

Jane didn't bother with the jeans, but opened the bedroom door a crack and peered out.

'Hey, Ma, you're opening my parcel now? No, you get to use my oven, not open my post...'

She opened the door wider, and Maura gave a warning squeal.

'Sorry...hey! Ma! What is it?'

'What do you mean, what is it...you mean you don't know? Hold on...'

'Ma!'

Jane was practically stamping her foot in frustration, and Maura couldn't help giggling as she pulled one of Jane's oversized t-shirts over her head. She didn't think Angela would come in, but better safe than sorry.

'Oh, Jane! You really got this for Frankie?'

'I got what for Frankie?'

'It's signed! Oh, he will love this...'

Jane finally opened the door wider so that she could see properly, her inquisitiveness getting the better of her self-consciousness, and Maura could almost picture her eyes widening to saucers, could sense her mouth drop open even though she was facing the other way. Angela was right. Frankie would love it.

'You got him a signed bat? Ortiz?'

Jane had turned around, leaving the door wide open now, and in two strides had crossed the room and flung her arms around Maura.

'How the hell did you...? Never mind'.

Maura squealed with laughter as Jane practically picked her up and spun her around, but she was cut off when Jane's mouth pressed down on hers in a fierce, hard kiss that left Maura gasping for breath. Neither of them saw Angela in the doorway, still holding the bat in one hand but with the other placed firmly over her eyes.

'You two do know that I can see you now, right...? Maura, was this your idea? Frankie is going to be thrilled!'

'Ma...' Jane turned, and tried not to laugh at the sight of her mother peeking through her fingers. 'Don't you have a cake to make?'

'Oh my goodness, the chocolate!' Angela dropped the hand from her face and thrust the bat at Jane, before spinning on her heel and all but running back to the kitchen. Maura couldn't help a smug smile as Jane carefully, almost reverently, turned the present over in her hands.

'You know, my mother was wrong about one thing'.

'What?'

Jane managed to tear her gaze away from the bat long enough to smile over at Maura. It was a smile that turned Maura's knees to jelly and, for once, she couldn't think of any scientific explanation for it. It was just the effect Jane had.

'You definitely are my type'.


End file.
